Graduate Program in Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Objects are the main source of information for the archaeological study of human behavior in the past. That is why we put a great emphasis on our lab courses focusing on the obligatory steps of artifact study and publication. You will learn how to draw, photograph, describe and classify some of the most common archaeological finds. However it is not possible to correctly draw and photograph an object, without knowing which is its upper and lower side, whether it is intact or fragmented. This means that archaeological documentation and interpretation are parallel and indivisible processes.

 

In our courses we deal with lithic artefacts, pottery, metal objects as well as with Greek and Roman epigraphic monuments and coins.

 

GIS

 

Specialized GIS-software has proven very useful in the spatial analysis of archaeological data such as settlement patterns, site locations, and find distributions in activity areas. In our introductory GIS course we learn how to create a GIS-database, make thematic maps, and analyze information about sites, artifacts, and landscapes. The course tries to keep a balance between technical skills, software competence, and theory of spatial analysis in archaeology.

 

 

Our practical lab  courses aim at providing practical skills which are fundamental for every artefact-oriented archaeological study. In this respect they are good preparation for the work that will be needed for a MA thesis.

 

 

 

 

Assist. Prof. Petranka Nedelcheva in the Archaeometry and experimental archaeology lab of the New Bulgarian University